Orcs
' ' Orcs, or ts’vaiym, as they prefer to be called, are the hardiest race of man. What they lack in numbers and technology, they make up for in sheer tenacity and will to live in some of Chromoria’s most unforgiving environments. Despite their rough and imposing appearance, orcs are just as culturally developed as any other culture. One only needs to listen to a ts’vaiym speak in his native tongue to realize there is more to this race than meets the eye. Basic Attributes Average Height – Men: 6’6”, Women: 6’ · Senses - Good eyesight, good smell, bad touch due to thick hide. · Appearance – More human-like and less ugly than most orcs in fantasy. Square-faced and wide-nosed. o Skin is not scaly, merely thick and calloused and found in a wide range of colors, from grey to green to red and everything between. Hair color varies from black to red to brown. o Brown or black eyes and pointed ears. Tusks may occur. o Thick body structure. They aren’t just tall, they’re big. · Energy type – Red. Cannot wield green or blue. · Home - Dhavabnod, in the desert and wastelands · Racial Stat Adjustments – Str +1, Con +1, Acu -1 Home and Culture Orcs are an extremely resilient race, especially in tolerance of extreme heat. Their main civilization is located in the wastelands and desert of southern Imas known as Dhavabnod. The population is not particularly large, as their social structure and normal environment is not conducive for high numbers. Instead, orcs tend to live in mostly smaller settlements and are often nomadic hunter-gatherers. Orcs have the smallest population of any human race. This is probably due to their brutal homeland. However, the orcs were also the worst hit by the Sundering, and it is thought that they never fully recovered. Ruins found in Dhavabnod hint that orc technology may have once been much more advanced. However, these ruins also hint that Dhavabnod wasn’t always as harsh a landscape as it is now. There are a few orc cities, including Nahkalis Garama, a city on the inland Fire Sea within Dhavabnod, and another on the back of K’vishra. Because of the orcs’ loose political structure, neither is technically a capital. In fact, there is no true political leader of the orc realm either. There are warlords and chieftains who control various amounts of land at various times, but very rarely does one unite all of Dhavabnod under his rule. The only orc who exerts control over all of Dhavabnod is Vyagarosh, and he is more of a spiritual and cultural leader than a political one. Religious leaders seem to take the role of full orc leaders, though they still can’t really control the actions of chieftains. The highest-ranking orc religious leaders live deep within K’vishra or in the mountains with dragons. They are referred to by non-orcs as the Dragon Priests and Dragon Priestesses. The priests and priestesses serve very different purposes. Priests are a sort of political elder statesmen, while priestesses are completely focused on religious rituals. While both are religious leaders, priests look outward and priestesses inward. In many ways, the dragon priestesses hold a more prestigious role in society, though their inclusive focus means that they have less clout in day-to-day affairs. The weakness of orc government would normally be an easy target for the better organization and ambition of eormen. However, orcs are still capable fighters despite their lower numbers, and their knowledge of their terrain gives them equal footing. Moreover, the relative barrenness of Dhavabnod, at least in the eyes of non-orcs, makes it a sub-prime target. 4th edition note: With the drying of the Emporia River and growing use of northern Dhavabnod as a trade route, areas that were once exclusively orcish have now been populated by merchants of other races. Since its loss of Emporia City, Deorlen has looked further east for economic and political control. This has increased tensions between the orcs of Dhavabnod and Deorlenians. However, as of yet, there has not been any serious violence between the groups. While orcs are politically disparate, they are almost all united in religion. Orc spirituality is very shamanistic, and looks towards K’vishra as a leader. Religion plays a very large role in most orc life. Orcs also have a very strong sense of culture and race, if not nationality. While they do not look down upon other races, they are very proud of their own, and do not typically like to intermingle. On the whole, orcs are a very proud race. Honor is an important aspect of their culture, and it is often won physically. For this reason, orcs are often considered a violent race. However, it should be noted that their violence follows a distinct set of rules. In their eyes, they are harsh but not unfair. Orcs are also known to co-exist pretty well with both eormen and zemy. Half-orc, half-eormen, colloquially referred to as eorcs, are one of the most common half-breeds in Imas. They tend to be found on the eastern rim of Deorlen, where the thick hide of a eorc protects from the elements. That said, eorcs do not fit in very well within orc society. Orcs also co-inhabit the southern mountains with zemy, but the relationship is very live and let live. The orcs live on top of the mountain, while the zemy live within. While the relationship is symbiotic with minor trade, neither have much to do with each other in most matters. Interbreeding between orcs and zemy is rare, though the results tend to be quite successful in zemy culture. Orcs are also found in the far north, alongside northern eormen. Their thick hide and control of heat and fire are good for more than just hot environments. These orcs are extremely isolated from the rest of the world. They also have a different culture, in which eorcs are both accepted and often preferred. Control of both warmth and the icy water is sought after, as the main means of eating is from the cold ocean. Family Life Perhaps as a result of the harsh terrain they inhabit and the difficult history they have endured, orcs have developed a (at least to the discerning eyes of this anthropologist) rather extreme family system. In a single tribe, which typically contains 20-80 nomadic individuals, a single female orc is chosen to be the keramata, the earthmother. She acts as a sort of manager of the tribe, solving disputes, making sure none go hungry, etc. A counsel of elder males act as both the lead shamans and the final say in political affairs. They have the ability to override the earthmother’s decisions, but since they are generally distracted by intertribal and religious issues, she generally makes most of the tribe’s decisions. Sometimes a great orc will be born who single-handedly controls the affairs of a tribe, or even multiple tribes. These orcs, typically male but sometimes female, are orc war chiefs, and are the subject of many orcish stories. When an orc is born, the orc is not given a name. They are cared for by their parents, who are most often monogamous, though higher-ranking individuals tend to be polygamous. A child orc is thought of not quite as a pet, but also not quite as a child (the orc term for them, adhabavshi roughly translates to half-child). This is thought to be because child mortality is very common in orc tribes. If a half-child dies, then they are thought to simply be moving to a new life, as their mortal life never truly began. They are not mourned beyond a simple burial. A child does not gain a name until the age of 3-4. It is at this point, the parents, particularly the mother, begins to form an attachment to the child. The child is still not a full member of orc society yet, though it is now considered a human being. At around age 13-17, orcs have a coming of age ceremony. These are typically a trial of some sort, and are often dangerous. The trials vary between men and women, with men’s trials typically being something like hunting, killing a vliskara, or surviving in the wild for a certain length of time. Women’s trials may include the above, but more typically involve the intake of hallucinogens that induce a nightmarish trip that leaves some minds completely wasted. Once again, the harshness seems to be designed to prove that only the strong can survive, and only the strong deserve to survive. At the end of the ceremony, the orc is gifted with their second name, possibly something to do with their trial, but usually a surname of sorts that relates them to their tribe. Subsequent names come from more great feats. These feats tend to need to be very impressive and must be approved by the elders. A typical orc will only have 2-3 names. Note that not even simply fighting in a battle is worth a new name. There must be more. For instance, if one became renown for saving your tribe from a vliskara raid using a massive hammer that split the skull of the vliskara leader in half, then one might gain the name “Bhagak’ala”, which roughly translates to “skull-splitter”. Names aren’t thought to be given; they are thought to be revealed. In a way, each orc has a true name at birth, as orcs believe in a sort of pre-destination. Or perhaps it’s better to say that they believe in nonlinear reincarnation, so one’s feats from a past life may not have even happened yet. So orcs don’t believe things are destined to happen, they just think things already have happened simultaneously in a way that is simply impossible to comprehend. This also explains to them why K’vishra is incapable of communicating with orcs very well. K’vishra exists all at once while humans are trapped seeing time linearly, save for when under the influence of dangerous hallucinogens. Religion Orc religion places K’vishra Dhavriaghi first and foremost. Though there is a conceptual spirit realm, it is only a state of flux and not an end goal for anyone of the mortal realm. Instead, orcs expect to live, die, and live again within the mortal realm. This life and death is also nonlinear in time. One can die now and return in the past. One can even exist at once in multiple bodies, since to orcs, time is all at once anyway. In orc religion, K’vishra Dhavriaghi is the oldest flame and creator of the world. Orcs came from the sand and are the oldest race. After creating the world, K’vishra has since been in a state of semi-hibernation, allowing other gods to gain some power. It is said that when his rest ends (or has ended or is ending since all is one for K’vishra), he will return to power in the world and bring the orcs with him. Orcs will then turn Chromoria into a paradise. K’vishra’s rest will end when his name is finally completed. The greatest role of the Dragon Priestesses, the role given to a single priestess from birth, is to enter deep within K’vishra into a scalding hot room, where she will spend the rest of her life communicating with K’vishra and reciting his name. In orc culture, one’s true name is very significant and reflects your power. K’vishra’s true name has been being recited for at least 1,500 years (orcs would say more), and is still not yet finished. Orcs don’t worship gods besides K’vishra particularly often. They don’t have a large pantheon of deities. Instead, they tend to semi-apotheosize great orcs that once lived. They tell stories of their feats and sing prayers. These prayers can be answered since the spirits of great orcs live on in the bodies of a living orc somewhere. Orcs believe that one’s next life is strongly influenced by one’s current life (and past lives). A life lived honorably will give one a good next life. The most honorable may even be reborn as a dragon. Dragon priests are so called because they were either a dragon in their last life or will be a dragon in their next life. Non-orcs have raised questions about this, as it would seem that a dragon priest who was previously but no longer a dragon must have done a poor job as a dragon. In response, orcs have concluded that dragons may actually choose their next life, and some grow bored of the life of a dragon and come back for a single lifetime as a lesser creature. Returning to earth as another creature is less honorable but completely possible. Orcs believe that all life reincarnates and has the same type of spirit, but that only the honorable and good make it to orc. They therefore look down upon other races a bit, as it would seem that they didn’t live lives as honorable as those of orcs. Still, many orcs instead simply believe that non-orcs are just ignorant of the honorable way and so are trapped outside of orcdom. Honor among orcs is a very complicated process with many unwritten rules. However, a few basic important parts can be mentioned. Elders should be respected, but the great will also challenge them. This is the honorable way to replace an elder. War is vital and not bad. However, there are many rules to honorable war.' '''Likewise, violence is perfectly fine as long as it’s justified. Justifications may seem a bit alien to non-orcs, but with an understanding of orc culture they make more sense. Either way, honorable retribution is swift and often draconian.' Your tribe is your family. The only thing more important is K’vishra and perhaps Vyagorosh. Laziness or passivity are the height of dishonor. A true orc acts, he does not wait. He attacks, he does not appease. '''Likewise, cowardice is very much looked down upon in orcs. Courage and honor go beyond the point of what some races would call stupidity. Category:Races